MP3: Hermit Thrushes, “Fourth”

October 27, 2008

And the award for Best CMJ Foot-Soldiering PR Hustle goes to the above dude in the Philly psych-folk fivesome, Hermit Thrushes!

Kid badly in need of a shower saw me doodling daggers during the Unexceptional Handclap Band’s set at the Fader Fort Friday and network-assaulted me, all I see your pen, now use it to write about my band. His hook: “We’ve played Todd P shows.” In the end, he was nice enough, and passed along a manila CD-sized envelope with hand-drawn gummy worms and a one-sheet about how Hermit Thrushes use “awkward melodies,” “monophonic vocal doublings” and “unconventional song structures.” Inside was also an illustration of a humpback whale with angel wings.

Who cares, right? I do now. Not even five minutes later, I’m walking out and dude is standing by the exit, his pants down around his ankles. A woman is grinning and taking his picture. Matt of Matt and Kim is witnessing this from about 10 feet away, and shaking his head. And for that, and that alone, I am going to post this Hermit Thrushes song “Fourth,” which, as it turns out, is actually pretty good. Think Impossible Shapes, a trou-dropping Pinback.